Awakened to Reality
by The Forest of Ire
Summary: When Touya returned home for the summer, finding his ex-rival outside his house should have been the least of his concerns. He never expected where it would lead them both, to secrets neither should ever have known. Isshushipping.


_The following fic is the first part in a rather ambitious project._

_These warnings apply: Usage of mostly-Japanese terms and names, English where I like them better. A rather blatant disregard for any canon that was released after I started the fic, unless it can be tied in—with the full knowledge that **a lot** of this fic could never be canonically plausible. Crossovers with some other Pokémon games. A little or a lot of homosexuality. Fudging with established science, as well as questionable morality. Complete ignorance of the anime and most manga, therefore conformation to established game canon. No resemblance to other fics, past or present, intended, as I don't read anything in this fandom. References to Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Final Fantasy VII, Firefly/Serenity, PokéMemes, and Outlaw Star (plus whatever else I want to add) intentional._

_Rating will change._

_Read at your own discretion._

_Most importantly, though, enjoy._

* * *

><p>"I'm not gonna Raichu a love song..."<p>

Biting gently into the eraser of his pencil, Touya mumbled his falsified lyrics to himself along with the radio, sitting back in his chair and attempting to think. The words on the page had begun to blur together only twenty minutes ago, and it was barely 9:15 at night. Somewhere in the back of his mind he regretted having decided to pick up schoolwork again after coming home from his journey, but at the same time, he really did feel he needed it. He reached for the glass of milk near the radio and took a small sip, re-reading the problem.

_The formula s(t) = -4.9t^2 + 49t + 15 gives the height in meters of a Dodrio leaping upward from a point 15 meters off the ground at a velocity of 49 m/sec. How high above the ground will the Dodrio reach?_

His first thought was _What the heck is a Dodrio, again?_ and he found himself wandering to his bookshelf looking for the illustrated encyclopedia on Kantou-native Pokémon he'd purchased... at some point. Touya could vaguely recall the creature—it had three heads, right?—but it was difficult for him to do the problem without a good mental picture. He flipped open the book, thumbing through the pages until he came across its image.

_A peculiar Pokémon species with three heads_—hey, he'd gotten that right, at least. _It vigorously races across grassy plains even in arid seasons with little rainfall. _He skimmed the rest, taking note of its features and the recorded speeds it could attain. _It runs at nearly 40mph, and though flightless, is renowned for its jumping ability._ "Huh," he exhaled quietly, then closed the book and returned to his desk. Under the lamp's harsh light, the print shone a strange silver color, and his slightly-sleepy mind focused on it for a moment.

When the shiny reflections became words again, he still couldn't understand the problem. "Man," he sighed loudly. "I suck at math..." And really, he knew this was coming, trying to take a higher-level calculus course when it'd been a long time since he'd done anything even _remotely_ algebraic. Forgoing it for a moment, he reached for the radio and turned it up a tiny bit louder, then sat back and thought. At his feet, Boota, a recently-hatched Tepig he'd bred, yawned loudly in her sleep and turned over. The resultant warmth against his foot made Touya smile.

The brief moment of tranquility was shot, however, when a Kricketot's cry echoed repeatedly from his desk. For a few seconds, Touya had no idea where it was coming from, then remembered he'd changed his Xtransreceiver's ringtone to the xylophone-like call of the Sinnoh-native musical bug. Curious as to who would call him at this time of night (as normally Cheren or Bianca only called during the day, respectful of his summer school attempt), he glanced at the ID.

_Face-to-Face Unavailable  
><em>_Number Unknown (area: Kurakusa)_

He pressed his lips into a thin line at that, wondering who would be calling him from one town over that he didn't even know. Shrugging, he set the device aside and attempted to return to his work.

Not even thirty seconds later, his phone rang again. The same ID popped up on its screen, and this time Touya decided he might as well answer it. Maybe it was one of Professor Juniper's associates who he hadn't met yet, or maybe someone reporting from the resort he'd let his Pokémon stay at for the summer while he did schoolwork. Sliding it open, he set it on the desk and leaned back to cross his arms behind his head.

"Touya speaking. Who's calling?"

All that came through the speakers was the slight crackling sound that most cell phones made when it was windy, mixed with light breathing. The screen continued to display the "Face-to-Face Unavailable" notification, a blank silhouette behind it. For a second, the person on the other end was quiet, until the sound of a brief inhalation overpowered the noisy interference.

"Hello, Touya...?" The voice was quiet, unsure, but temptingly familiar. Even so, whatever quality speaker the other had distorted the voice enough Touya couldn't place it.

"Yeah?" he answered. "Who's this?"

"Um, I..." More of that windy static, before a couple mumbles of unintelligible words mixed with them. "...Sorry, could I...? No, wait, I mean..."

Thoroughly confused, Touya repeated his earlier question. "Who is this, and how'd you get my number?"

Just wind, then silence. _Call Disconnected _flashed over the screen, and Touya sighed heavily. It was really about time he got a prank call or something like it, and, shutting his phone, he shook his head and opted not to think about it. At this point, Boota had woken up, and pawed at his leg with a few insistent grunts. Touya nodded in agreement. "Yeah, weird, I know. You hungry, girl?" She nodded rapidly, scurrying to the bedroom door before he followed and scooped her up.

He padded down his stairs and into the upstairs hallway, then quietly and carefully into the kitchen. Boota oinked at the sight of the refrigerator, and Touya set her down before opening it and observing its contents. Mom had gone shopping only a few days ago, and several cans of Pokéfeed were stacked in neat rows on the side. He popped one open and set it down, Boota digging in immediately, then reached in for his own nowhere-near-midnight snack of a sloppily-prepared sandwich.

As he licked the mustard from his fingers and cut the sandwich in half, his mind turned back to the phone call from earlier. He _knew_ that voice from somewhere... but it had been six months since he'd really talked to anyone other than Cheren and Bianca, and almost three weeks since he'd come back to Kanoko. He wasn't forgetful, per se, but he was more accustomed to hearing Pokémon cries than people talking where he trained before he decided to take time off, and he'd recognize either of his friends' voices _immediately_. Not to mention he'd know if they were calling—and the phone call had come from a cell phone, not a pay phone.

Touya glanced across the dimly light kitchen, the only light coming from above the sink, and crossed one leg over the other. It had only been about... a year since he started his journey. And not even, since he didn't turn sixteen for another few weeks. Had all that really happened so quickly? He chewed thoughtfully on a bite, silently appreciating the fresh, non-Miltank beef Mom had gotten, then turned and gazed out the window.

Two Woobats swooped by, pausing in the distance to bump noses, then soared upward and out of sight. A few seconds later, a normal firefly blinked past. Once he'd left and come back, he really found he missed how quiet and nature-like Kanoko was. Isshu's cities were huge, and captivating in their own right, but he felt more at home in the woodsy areas, like the White Forest out by Routes 14 and 15, or Yaguruma near Shippou City. He laughed to himself, getting nostalgic all over again, then took another bite and leaned on the sink.

So, who had it been, then, calling him? He couldn't be sure it was a wrong number, though they _had_ called twice... Shrugging again, he finished off his sandwich and put the other half into the fridge for tomorrow, then cleaned up Boota's meal. The tiny pig was content to sniff around the kitchen while Touya wiped up the remains from the floor, then turned back as he started up the stairs again.

When he entered his room, the first thing he heard were the last few notes of his ringtone. He sat down at his desk again, giving the Xtransreceiver a raised brow. Whoever it was had called again, when he looked at the missed call log. This time he felt a bit more sure it wasn't a wrong number. Either way, he set the machine down, and picked up his pencil to continue working.

He'd just barely scratched down the first part of the formula when there was an odd tapping noise—just a single tap—by the window near the stairs. Looking to it, he didn't see anything immediately outside from across the room, but then again, his desk wasn't near enough to the window. Figuring it was just some random bug flying into it, he ignored it and continued to write.

_...Tap_.

The sound was identical to the one from earlier, and when he looked as the noise sounded again, Touya could clearly see something small and round make contact with the glass before falling. "Someone's throwing rocks...?" he mused aloud, getting up to check out what was going on outside. He slid the window open, gazing down into the gently-illuminated yard.

A small pebble whizzed by his ear, narrowly missing him and landing on the floor in his room. Boota squealed in surprise, bounding toward the window to peer out herself. When he turned his sight back on the ground, he choked back a noise of surprise.

Two jade-green eyes stared upward from under the brim of a baseball cap, mouth set in a fine line. In one hand were a few more stones, the other reaching into a cupped palm to pick one up. His clothes were scuffed with dirt and visible wear, his shoes a dulled gray; even his hair was mildly disheveled. Upon noticing the window had opened, the young man below blinked a few times, then lowered his hands.

"Touya," N greeted simply.

"N," he responded in kind, then looked back toward his room for a moment before down again. "Why are you... uh... outside my house?"

The last time Touya had seen N... he had leaped out of the window of his castle onto Reshiram's back, never to be seen again. That was... six months ago. Half a year. And Looker had told him that he'd heard someone spotted him... someplace way far away. What Team Plasma's former king, a friend-slash-rival of sorts who Touya had accepted he would never run into again, was doing _standing in his backyard_ throwing _stones_ at his _window_...

A sneakered foot scuffed the grass as N attempted to look unassuming. In his usual fast-paced manner, he explained himself. "I heard from one of your friends that you'd gone home for the summer, so I headed here looking for you."

"That... doesn't really answer my question." That was the _how_, certainly, but really not the _why_.

He lowered his head. "To be honest, I was lonely."

"Lonely?" Touya echoed, then let out a harsh breath. This was just plain silly. "Okay, the reason doesn't matter for now. Um." He looked toward the stairs, then lowered his voice. "My mom is probably asleep. Do you have anywhere to stay?"

N shook his head.

Well of course not. Beyond staying at a Pokémon Center, N had no other options—and no family to speak of. All of Team Plasma's associates had been arrested, and if what Ghetsis had said was true, his only living relative was currently rotting in a jail cell. (And good riddance, his mind added. He was glad they finally caught him after he escaped, as he had heard from Looker a few months ago.) Furthermore, N was technically... a wanted criminal, even if he was a genuinely good person at heart, so he really _couldn't_ stay anywhere. Touya swallowed, internally debating what to do. He wasn't about to make the young man sleep outside, in... in the _trees_ or something. Even if he _did_ think he was a little... strange.

"Hold on." Ducking away from the window, he opened his closet door and dug around for one of his extra bedding sets. In a few quick motions, he fashioned a makeshift rope from the sheets, remembering when he'd done the same thing years and years ago to let Cheren and Bianca inside late at night. But they had been children then, and much smaller... and lighter. N was... well, Touya had no idea how old he was, but he was certainly much bigger than even Cheren, who had a few inches on Touya in height.

Hoping for the best, he returned to the window and tossed the sheet down... only to find that N wasn't there anymore. Confused, he peered around as far as the light from his room could illuminate, but didn't see him. "N...?" he tried, then jumped back in surprise when he responded from right nearby.

"Here." Touya looked to his left, finding the other crouched on his roof, one foot in the gutter.

"H-how did you...?" Touya sputtered in disbelief, N climbing past him and through the window.

"An Axew I once knew taught me to climb walls." He stood up straight next to Touya and dusted himself off, adjusting his ponytail. "All it takes is a little foresight and knowledge of angles."

"Right..." Touya pulled the sheet back in, then closed the door to his room, Boota meanwhile sniffing N all over. The young man smiled at the Tepig, kneeling down to rub her ears affectionately. "Are you... uh, did you call me? Earlier?"

N nodded. "I wasn't entirely certain of what to say, however, so..." He gestured vaguely. "I apologize for being so abrupt."

"No, it's... fine..." In the full light of his bedroom, Touya could see a few more details about N's appearance more clearly. His clothing was noticeably dirt-streaked, torn in several places, and there were traces of... something reddish near the tears. But physically, he seemed just fine... up until Touya met his eyes. Under his left eye in a thick crescent, the skin was quite swollen and bruised... as though someone had punched the other in the face. "N, what the hell happened to you?"

The young man just shrugged. "Got into a tussle with a territorial pack of Watchogs. They weren't exactly up for conversation." He smiled blithely, toying with the cube-like thing he still had around his waist... except...

"Your Pokémon are gone?" Touya asked, raising a brow and pointing to his vacant belt.

This, however, made N seem somewhat more reserved, eyes moving downcast. "I... let them go." After a moment, in Touya's incredulous silence, he quickly added, "Not permanently, just for the time being. I thought I'd let them, you know, have some time to... themselves."

Touya sighed, figuring that none of this was going to add up anyway considering the sheer weirdness of the circumstances. N settled for sitting on the floor where he was, Boota nuzzling up against his thigh. As the two appeared to converse quietly, Touya went to his closet. Every rational part of his mind was screaming that this was a terribly bad idea, especially without asking his mom beforehand, and, well, _N was a wanted criminal_. Either way, it's like he could almost feel Zekrom's crimson eyes boring into the back of his head, something about ideals echoing faintly in the back of his mind. He stifled a second sigh, figuring that maybe there was a bit more to being a legendary's hero than just winning Pokémon battles...

He removed from his closet a pair of sleep pants that were a little too long on him, bringing them over to where N was and sitting down beside him. "If you want to get changed, you can wear these," he offered. "I'll go get you something to eat."

The other just nodded, Touya moving to do as he said. He slipped out into the hallway and quietly closed his door, straining to hear if his mother was still awake. Hearing nothing, he descended into the kitchen and retrieved the other half of the sandwich he'd made earlier to bring upstairs. His return trip felt much more stressful, listening for his mother yet again before going back up to his room.

Within, N had moved from the floor to his desk, looking down at the worksheet Touya had abandoned earlier. The first thing that Touya noticed was while he had gotten changed, he'd removed his shirt, and... he really couldn't help looking him over, blaming a recently-risen latent bisexuality for the strange twisting in his gut. It was the first time Touya had ever seen the other in such a way, noting how pale his skin was, the hint of muscle tone around his abdomen, and faded scars all along his back and stomach—they looked like clawmarks. When he finally tore his eyes away from his torso, he noticed N's brow was furrowed in curious concentration. He looked up when Touya shut the door and cleared his throat.

"Are you studying calculus?" he asked, rolling the pencil back and forth on the desk with the palm of his hand.

"Yeah. Well, trying to, anyway." Touya set the plate down on his desk.

"This equation." N picked up the pencil and tapped the first one with the eraser. "It calculates average velocity using derivatives. It's really rather simple." Did he sound... disappointed?

"I'll just say I'm really not that good with math."

"Hm." He pulled the worksheet closer to himself and began scratching down a few figures. Within seconds, he had completed the problem with all his work shown, a neat and precisely written _137.5 m_ circled. "As I said. Rather simple."

Touya blinked. "...Yeah."

N's eyes wandered over the other problems with a distinct sense of hunger, as though he were itching to finish them himself. After a moment, he finally handed the pencil to Touya, then started on the sandwich. Within his first bite, he made a noise of discontent. "There's mustard on this."

"Sorry. I made it earlier." Touya slowly sank into the seat, not really sure what he should do with himself. His teacher's Tranquill would be at his house at 6 AM sharp to pick up his homework and deliver his new assignment, and he was supposed to have been done by 10:30. But with N here... he rubbed his face in frustration, then looked down at the problem N had solved. The other had gone to sit on the bed, picking apart the sandwich for parts without much or any mustard on them.

Much as he didn't want to, the only way he was going to have his homework finished and actually get some decent rest would be to have N do it. And judging by his reaction, he seemed like he liked the idea. He remembered the conversation they had had in front of the ferris wheel, something about formulas... Touya turned to see N tear a sliver of meat from the sandwich, check it all over and sniff it, then tentatively eat it.

Their eyes met for just a moment, and Touya looked away. "Do you, uh... wanna do the rest of these?" He gestured to the worksheet, glancing back at him.

His head tilted slowly to the side, as if considering, before he rose and approached. Rather than silently ask for the desk chair, he leaned over Touya's side and looked at the paper. This close, Touya felt a little awkward, his stomach stirring uncomfortably. Maybe it was just the weirdness of having _N_ of all people this close, in his bedroom... shirtless... He swallowed tightly. Raging bi-curious teenage hormones aside, he couldn't start acting weird _now_. Besides, he had more important things to worry about... like keeping N's presence a secret from his mother.

When he looked down again, N had already finished the second and third problems, moving on to the fourth. Touya moved away to give him room and decided to sit on his bed instead, Boota climbing into his lap and staring up at him. The fire-pig snorted and pawed at him, then lay down where his legs were crossed. He petted her with the tips of his fingers, watching N slide into the chair and continue to work. He couldn't figure out why for the life of him he'd agreed to let this guy into his house in the middle of the night, without even thinking about the dangers. His mind wandered to when he saw N's childhood bedroom... the words he'd exchanged with Anthea and Concordia...

Maybe he just felt bad for N, and that's why he was doing this.

...Maybe.

He moved to cuddle Boota and lie on his side on his bed. He had to think of a plan, somehow... to keep N hidden for as long as he could attempt to explain to his mother that harboring a wanted criminal wasn't _all_ bad if he was really a good guy. He let out a harsh breath; like she'd believe that. Either way, it'd be very, _very_ difficult to explain why there was another boy in his room that magically appeared there during the night. And N needed clothes and toiletries... probably a shower. Oh, Arceus, why didn't he _think_ this through?

His thoughts were interrupted by the mattress dipping, and he looked up to see N settling quite comfortably near his feet. After a moment, he bounced on the mattress and made a noise of appreciation. "This bed is really comfortable," he commented, then laid back on it. "I never had a bed of my own."

"Really..." Touya remarked, sitting up and moving closer to the headboard. That weirdness that he'd felt the day he met N was creeping back.

The young man shook his head. "I slept with my friends. Daru made a very comfortable pillow." He sat up again, and his eyes scanned the room. After a moment, he made a disapproving face. "I have to say, your room is so empty. Where are all your toys?"

Touya stared at him for a moment. "I haven't played with any toys since I was ten."

The other's eyebrows shot up. "Really? What do you do for fun?"

He simply gestured to the TV, where his Wii was connected to it. "I have some video games." At the other's blank look, he raised a brow of his own. "You... do know what video games are, right?"

A slow shake of the head was his answer.

Touya then remembered, albeit reluctantly, than N was the very definition of sheltered—and he thought that Bianca's parents were overprotective. Come to think of it, in his room, N didn't have anything like that, despite the entire _skateboarding half-pipe_ that took up a good chunk of the floor space. "I'll show you tomorrow, I guess," he finally sighed, then made a noise as N crawled nearer to him and lay down beside him. "...Um... what are you doing?"

"You're going to bed, right?"

"Yeah..." He really didn't want to share his bed with the guy, though. And when his mom came in to wake him up, it would be even worse than explaining N's presence in the first place. It seemed to be a little too late when the other had already somehow wormed his way under the covers and looked to be quite comfortable. He was about to say something—protest, explain that he shouldn't be in the bed and should go sleep in, in the closet, or someplace out of sight—but the delighted sigh that N breathed out made him reconsider. He probably hadn't gotten to sleep indoors in a long, long time...

Well, it couldn't be much different from when he'd share a bed with Cheren... back when they were kids. Holding Boota to his chest, he got up, switched off his desk light, and climbed back into the bed beside N, careful to leave a fair amount of space between them.

No such luck when the other immediately slung an arm over his side and cuddled up to his back.

"N," he whispered in the dark.

"Mm, yeah?" the other mumbled sleepily.

"Why are you... this close?"

"It's how I always slept with my friends," he answered simply.

_Yeah, well, your friends were Pokémon_, Touya thought in response, though he refrained from voicing it knowing how N felt about the differences between the two. He swallowed thickly, reaching over to set his alarm for 4 AM to ensure he could get N stashed away somewhere before his mom got up. Boota wriggled out of his grasp and marched around the bed to find a good place to curl up, N sighing out against his shoulder blade.

As Touya shut his eyes, the entire night's events played back in his mind. This had to top everything as being the strangest series of events to occur in such a short time, though his worldwide journey had set him to act mostly nonchalant—he'd seen a lot of very bizarre things, enough to make him feel at least a little jaded. Even so, he felt like maybe he should be a little bit more weirded out by this than he actually was. He had to admit, in the back of his mind, that he'd harbored a slight crush on N since they'd met, but it was more of a first-sight thing. The aura of bizarre that followed him like a shade had turned him off for a while, up until he found out more about him.

After that, he just felt... pity. So it was strange for him to think about N in any kind of sexual way, not after all that.

Until he was standing in Touya's room half-dressed, that is.

He shook the image from his mind as soon at it had come, and tried to focus on getting through tomorrow unscathed. Even after battling animated coffins, the physical embodiment of thunderstorms, and a legendary dragon itself, there was nothing scarier than his mom when she was angry. But that was all for tomorrow.

Clearing his mind, he tried to sleep.


End file.
